Brainiac looks out on Kandor and figures that it's time. His ship descends through the atmosphere and approaches the city, and the people see it and panic. Zod and Lya are in the crowd, and Lyta tries to reach Seg on the comm. Seg and Nyssa finally arrive, and Seg says that they have to figure a way to get people inside. Zod asks what happened, and Nyssa explains that the dome came down. Seg wonders where Jayna is, and Zod says that she left them and he didn't do anything to him. Lyta says that she did, and Seg tells Zod that the Cythonnites double-crossed him and hid Doomsday. Zod says that they need to bring Seg back
14 Years Ago
Val says that Krypton is vulnerable and praying to the Voice won't save them. Daron pronounces Val guilty of sedition and sentences him to death. Val is taken to the edge of the city and activates a hidden device. He plummets away and disappears.
Now
Zod explains that Val entered the Phantom Zone and was trapped there with Zod. The general admits that the council who corrupted him of leading a coup but says that they were corrupt, and the two of them met because time and space are meaningless in the Zone. Once Daron and the Voice believed Val was dead, Val was able to seek out Brainiac and find a defense against him. Val didn't come back because he didn't have the device to open a portal Nyssa realizes that Zod stole the controller, and Zod admits that he did because the mission required a Zod rather than an El. He figures that they need Val's intellect, and says that he'll go because he knows his way around the Zone. When Nyssa says that he's looking for a way to escape, Zod says that the Zone is no escape.
The Val hologram opens a portal and Zod brings Val out. Seg introduces himself to his grandfather, and Val embraces him. He explains that he figure how to access the future, and saw Seg as a beacon of light in the darkness. The hologram disappears, and Zod tells Val that they'll settle their differences once they defeat Brainiac. Val warns that there is no way to stop Brainiac,
Dev wakes up and discovers that he has an artificial arm to replace the one that he lost. He dresses and hears the storm outside, and looks out a window to see Brainiac's spaceship.
Jax-Ur and Mal are making their way through the streets, and Brainiac speaks to everyone saying that he's there to give them eternal life. Metal tentacles from the ship drive themselves into the city and prepare to pull it out of the planet so that it can be miniaturized and bottled.
Val tells the others that Brainiac is already planning the next planet to take. He explains that he's seen a multitude of futures from the Zone, and Brainiac always succeeds. Seg says that they have to evacuate the city, and Val warns that once Kandor is extracted, Krypton's core will be destabilized and the planet will explore. Lyta wants to go back and fight, and Seg tells her that it's too much of a risk to go back. Val tells her that Brainiac offers eternal life, but to perfectly preserve his collection he immobilizes the individuals in his collection.
In one of the miniaturized cities, Adam examines an Earth street.
Val says that the trapped individuals are cognizant, and Brainiac studies their psyches. Zod warns that the other cities won't send help, and assures Seg that he's not giving up.
Nyssa sits with Lyta and says that she can get to Kandor via the Cythonnite tunnels, and offers to show Lyta. She refuses to say why she's help, and Lyta agrees.
Zod says that Doomsday is still a possibility, and Val warns that he saw a future where Doomsday was used against Brainiac and it was the worst. Seg tells Val that he lied when he said that there would be a better tomorrow, and Val tells him that they were the naïve words of an old man. He says that Seg's friends will soon discover the futures he's seen, and they realize that Lyta and Nyssa have left.
Dev finds the remaining Sagitari, and Commander Gar tells him that they're the only ones let. Undeterred, Dev tells him to find the fighters for a counterstrike. The Sagitari refuse and start to leave, and Lyta comes in and punches Gar. She says that they are the tip of the spear, and they don't ask for mercy or give it.
Jax-Ur tells the Black Zero agents to get as many supplies as they can carry. Mal reports that skimmers trying to leave the city are immediately destroyed, and Jax-Ur tells him that they'll head to Kryptonopolis on foot and taking the Codex with them. Mal agrees and the pack to leave.
Nyssa goes to the Genesis chamber and orders the computer Oracle to release her child, Cor-Vex.
As they head through the tunnels, Seg tries and fails to raise Lyta or Nyssa on the comms. Zod says that they make a deal with Brainiac to spare the city, offering him Val and his knowledge of the future. Seg refuses, and Zod asks if he's willing to save one man but let millions die. He explains that his mother told him that Seg was lost during the bottling of Kandor.
As Nyssa leaves, Jax-Ur and Mal find her. Nyssa vows that they won't harm her child, and Jax-Ur says that Nyssa is fleeing after conspiring with Daron. The younger woman admits that Jax-Ur is right, but her child isn't and asks Jax-Ur to let him go. When Jax-Ur says that no one is free in Krypton, Nyssa insists that they can be more if they choose. The former scientist that Nyssa still doesn't know what her place is in the Kryptonian society that Daron created.
Lyta lays out a plan of an attack, and says that Brainiac's reign of terror ends on Krypton.
Seg leads the Rankless to the tunnels out of the city. The Sagitari skimmers fly by overhead. Brainiac watches them approach and destroys them with a gesture and smiles in satisfaction.
Back at the Sagitari base, Lyta tries to raise her squadrons and realizes that they're all dead. Dev tells her they did the right thing, and says that they had no way of knowing how to defend against an alien presence. He says that Jayna would have given the same order, and Lyta tells Dev that Jayna led the coup to save her. When Lyta had the choice to save Jayna, she failed. As Dev holds a crying Lyta, Seg calls and says that he's with Rankless and he's there to get her and everyone else out. He says that the Sagitari attack distracted Brainiac so they could get more of the Rankless out, and Lyta says that she'll send the remaining Sagitari and go to the Fortress… and she hasn't seen Nyssa.
Jax-Ur takes Nyssa to the Genesis Chamber and asks her if she remembers how Nyssa's mother died. Nyssa remembers that her mother died in a skimmer accident, and Jax-Ur tells Nyssa that her original self was in the skimmer as well. She initiates the Vara Protocol and Nyssa stares at the thousands of clones. Jax-Ur explains that the original Nyssa was badly injured but had enough neural activity for consciousness fusion. Nyssa remembers her childhood, but Jax-Ur says that it is all programming. She explains that she inadvertently created the Protocol, and the Elite Houses took her research. Daron took Jax-Ur's Codex technology to allow consciousness to be transferred into clones, giving the elites immortality. Jax-Ur tells Nyssa that her life has been a lie but it doesn't have to be anymore.
Seg continues searching for Nyssa, and tells Zod that Lyta is heading back to the Fortress. Zod says that he's going to stop Brainiac, and Seg warns that the universe will pay the price for Brainiac gaining future knowledge.
Zod finds Brainiac and says that in return for Brainiac sparing the city and the planet, he will give him a man who has seen the future. Brainiac figures that he's lying to ensure his survival, but Zod recites the next planet that Brainiac is targeting, that Val reported earlier. He figures that Brainiac would find betrayal dishonorable, and Brainiac forces him to his knees and telepathically probes Zod's mind to confirm that his offer is sincere. Brainiac dismisses Zod as selfish.
At the Fortress, Val tells Seg that his death is the only thing that will prevent Brainiac from getting his knowledge. Seg refuses to watch him die again, but Val says that if Brainiac finds him then the entire universe will suffer Kandor's fate.
Lyta and the remaining Sagitari through the streets, and she and everyone around her freezes as Brainiac begins his bottling process.
Zod takes Brainiac to the Fortress, and Seg puts a gun to Val's head and threatens to kill him. Brainiac doesn't believe that Seg will do it, and telekinetically shoves him across the chamber. He reaches for Val and disrupts the hologram, well aware of its nature. Seg says that he needed Brainiac on the platform and activates the Phantom Zone portal. It sucks Brainiac into the Zone, but Brainiac reaches back with his tentacles and grabs Seg. Val grabs Seg to keep him from being pulled in, and nearby Superman's case gains reality. Seg sees it and tells Val to start believing in a better tomorrow, release his grip, and is pulled into the Zone.
Brainiac's ship collapses and the dome reestablishes itself. Lyta and Dev hug.
Val goes to the Phantom Zone controls and starts to active them to bring Seg back. Zod refuses to let him risk bringing Brainiac back and destroys the controls. The two men stare at the cape, and Zod says that his father's sacrifice will never be forgotten. The cape changes as the Zod symbol replace the El symbol.
One Month Later
Zod tells the people that the safety of their planet is now assured. He says that a new era has begun and the Rankless will be conscripted into the Sagitari.
Nyssa brings Jax-Ur to the Fortress.
Zod says that they will seek out civilizations beyond their system and conquer them. If they submit peacefully, they will fall under his protection.
In the miniaturized city, Adam finds a statue of a triumphant Zod.
Zod vows that eventually everyone will kneel before Zo
Deep in the catacombs, Doomsday breaks free of the containment cell.
Written by Gadfly on May 24, 2018